The great 'R' words in religion

In preaching from Isaiah and Jeremiah for the last several weeks, I noticed how often the great “R” words kept appearing. Ransomed, rebuild, redeemed, renewed, repair, rescued, return, resilient, restored, revived. Even the word “religion” could be put in this good company of words. The etymology of “religion” is from “ligare,” which means “to connect.” As the ligament connects the tendons to the muscles, so re-ligion “connects,” or puts in harmony, man and God.

For 31 years I have followed a schedule in preaching of going through the Bible on the schedule of the 365-day Bible reading where 15 minutes of prescribed reading takes the reader through the whole Bible in a year. We are in the Prophets now, and these great “R” words are at the heart of the prophets’ messages. Let’s look at these words individually.

Ransom implies someone paying a price to release one held captivity. Last week two Americans were released by a foreign country for $1 million paid in ransom. Somalia pirates have wreaked havoc capturing ships and their cargo and demanding ransom to free them.

America has had to pay heavily to get our citizens freed from hostile powers. Applied to the Judeo-Christian faith, we are held in captivity by the Devil until we let God ransom us by grace or by the blood of sacrificial animals or the blood of Christ.

Rebuild is the promise of God that his people, taken into exile, shall return to claim and rebuild the nation and temple, God have them, if they repent of their sins. We went through London and Coventry and Berlin on several trips and marveled that these cities were devastated by bombings during World War II but are now rebuilt more beautiful than they were before. The same thing can happen to those who repent and return to God.

Redeem means to gain back by paying the debt owed or deposit applied. In high school in Sumter I had a friend who worked in a pawn shop. It amazed me seeing desperate people come in with valuables to “pawn” them for a fraction of their worth to get a little money. But it was also interesting to see many come in having regained resources to buy these back. We bought war bonds during the war and when they matured we “redeemed them” by presenting the certificates we held. Nothing but the blood (for Christians, the blood of Jesus) redeems.

Restore means to make whole again. The most familiar passage is in Psalm 23, “He restores my soul.” The prophets point out God restores our fortunes. David’s great pentitential prayer of Psalm 51 says “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.”

Revive means literally to bring back energized life, to inspire. The prophets arose during the darkest days of Israel and Judah and warned they would pay a heavy price for breaking covenant with God, but a remnant shall survive and be revived and thrive and God would give to them a resiliency to bounce back. In our troubled times, we need to be reminded of the “R” words.

Comments are welcome, so long as they are civil. A Facebook account is required. Abuse may result in the commenter being permanently blocked. Personal attacks are strictly prohibited. We reserve the right to remove any comments at any time.